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iPhone 6 buying frenzy in China is out of control

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Everyone, from people in the US to people in China, know of the popularity of any and all Apple products especially its iPhone. The new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have made their debut in full force all across the world. However, the price of the new iPhone is what all the buzz has been about, especially in China. The iPhone 6 is now selling for approximately 6 times the price it’s sold for in the United States.

For the base model iPhone 6, the price is selling for $1,430 (with a carrier contract). This is a steep price. In order to purchase the upgraded model, the iPhone 6 Plus, you need to be prepared to shell out even more, approximately more than $2,400!

Who in their right mind would want to pay these prices for a phone? Street smugglers in China selling these phones are confident that they will have buyers. This is evident in the long lines outside of the Chinese mall, Taikoo Li, of people clamoring for this latest upgrade in technology. Long lines outside of Apple stores in Hong Kong are also proof that people are willing to do whatever it takes to get the latest Apple technology available no matter the price.

These long lines outside of the Apples stores in Hong Kong did not come from the stores themselves, but from the smugglers who brought the phones across the border days before they the new phones made their official appearance in Hong Kong Apple stores. This is because there are no restrictions on these products in Hong Kong like there are in China.

These same smugglers have also said that people are even willing to pay top dollar, higher than the already high prices, just to have the iPhone 6 Plus delivered right to their door. Since its debut, weekend reports of the iPhone’s popularity in sales have come from sources in Japan, where overseas Chinese are trying to make iPhone purchases. There are also Chinese in the United States that are trying to make iPhone purchases and have them shipped back to their homes in China for big profits.

A filmmaker in New York, attempted to capture the buying frenzy of Chinese buying iPhones by bringing a Mandarin interpreter along to ask the Chinese in line who they were buying the phone for. This Chinese buying frenzy is a problem for some and a shining opportunity for other, like Chinese smugglers. This is in part because Apple has only allowed two out of three required regulatory steps to be passed, but not the most important one that provides licenses for network access from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Passing this will provide regulatory permission for China to provide phones to everyone when they want them at a much lower price than what the smugglers charge.

Until this happens, smugglers are enjoying their thriving business of purchasing and selling iPhones on the black market. They are making thousands and thousands of money. An example of this was seen in the flashy businessman who was seen purchasing nine iPhone 6 phones in cash!

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Opening iPhone 6 sales top $10 Million

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It’s always a newsworthy event when Apple launches a new product. Apple doesn’t even have to advertise as much as other companies when they are launching a new product. It simply has to be announced and it stirs up a social media frenzy and a long line of customers outside almost every Apple store. It’s always an exciting event to get to hold and play with the latest new Apple gadget.

The weekend launch of the new Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus was not different in its excitement and buying frenzy as well. Over the weekend, Apple iPhone sales were over 10 million. Ten million is what people like Ben Reitzes of Barclays and Walt Piecyk at BTIG predicted would happen for Apple during its launch. So it came as no surprise. This amount was a record amount for Apple and came as a nice surprise to CEO Tim Cook. Although, Mr. Cook is always looking to improve Apple’s productivity and sales of its products. In a statement over the weekend he said, “Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend… While our team managed the manufacturing ramp better than ever before, we could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible.”

When accurately researching the sales numbers for last year’s opening weekend launch of its iPhone 5, 5S, and 5C, Apple reported that phone sales were at 9 million. However, according to Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray, many of Apple’s iPhone 5Cs just sat in the pipeline, without actually being moved or sold.  So, in actuality, the number of iPhone 5s sold last year was 5.4 million. When compared to the number of iPhone 6s sold this year, this was a quite a large gain. And this large number of 10 million iPhone 6s sold over the weekend is even more significant because the phones were not sold in China, a relatively huge market.

 

 

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be a very important seller for Apple, probably its most popular seller. This is in large because in the past Apple has always sold phones that had the standard 4-inch screen. Now, their new phones are bigger screens – 4.7-inch for the iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch for the iPhone 6 Plus. This is in direct competition with other phones like the Android phones.

Still, investors will have to wait and see how well the iPhone 6 phones do with sales in the future since opening sales are always high because of demand. This high, however, will only continue as long as Apple keeps its supply of phones up.

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4 things to expect from Apple’s iPhone 6 event

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Next week, Apple is expected to reveal a host of new products to its fans and the world. The company created a countdown timer on its website, telling viewers to watch for a live webcast event on Tuesday, September 9, held at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino California. 

30 years ago on the same day, Steve Jobs revealed the first Macintosh personal computer to the world. Fans and the media have been speculating what could be launched on that special day. Here are four products you can probably expect to see:

1. The official release of an iWatch

Ever since Pebble’s 2011 Kickstarter campaign sold customers on the idea of strapping a mini iPod to a wristband, and raised over $3 million and the official backing of Apple itself, customers have been bombarded with smart watches from other manufacturers. On Tuesday, Apple may announce the creation of an official wearable device. The iWatch is currently listed as having a curved LED display, the ability to sync with iCloud and HealthKit services to track exercise and medical routines, and an initial price tag of $400. There’s no word on when it ships to stores, however.

While customers have been traditionally hesitant or unwilling to “wear” smart devices on their wrist, expect Apple to discuss the iWatch and attempt to make a wearable device into a cool marketing brand on Tuesday.

2. The ability to make online payments with an Apple device

While iPhones have been able to conduct everyday consumer banking for years–including depositing a check by taking a picture with the built-in camera–having the ability to pay for something in a grocery store just by tapping your phone has been a long-time dream for consumers. Apple has been rumored to be in partnership talks with credit card companies American Express and Visa on a possible Apple-brand payment platform. Instead of carrying around credit cards and cash, a customer might be able to digitally pay for everything through their Apple device instead.

While other smart phones use “near field communications” chips that can be used at a grocery checkout service, Apple has preferred to rely on its Passbook application for its customer base. That could also change on Tuesday.

3. The iPhone 6, with a larger screen

Current iPhones have a display that measures 4 inches across diagonally. By contrast, many phone manufacturers like Samsung and Nokia have developed products with much larger and easier to read screens, and those manufacturers have enjoyed comparatively higher demand for those products than Apple’s customer base.

Long-time loyal fans have been asking Apple for years to develop larger screens; Apple is widely expected to release a product on Tuesday with a larger screen, or at least discuss the feasibility of future iPhones with larger screens.

4. Apple’s giant, public emphasis on strong security

Expect a 90% chance of mentioning this in the webcast, not only for the recent hacking of Hollywood actresses’ iPhones, but also if Apple discusses their new iCloud, new products and payment systems. Public scrutiny is something Apple management has always tried to avoid, and mentioning security will only win them points on Tuesday.

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Sapphire Glass vs Gorilla Glass

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Apple has been using Gorilla Glass for years when it comes to getting its products protected. Gorilla Glass is a sturdy glass material that is known to handle many impacts. However, a new glass display may be used in the future.

The Sapphire Glass display may be used by the iPhone 6. It is believed that it will provide iPhone users with an even stronger option that will prevent shattered screens from ever being a problem again while also keeping scratches from being a serious concern in any case.

As appealing as the concept of Sapphire Glass is, there is a need to compare the two options with one another. uBreakFix has taken a closer look at how the Sapphire and Gorilla glass options work as a means of figuring out which one is the better overall choice.

There were three tests that uBreakFix used – the scratch, impact and bend tests. These tests were designed to create a more well-rounded look at how these glass options can function. Here’s a look at how the two fared in all of those tests.

Scratch

A tungsten drill bit was used on both glass items to determine which could scratch first. The Sapphire Glass option resisted scratches better than the Gorilla Glass did. This is a big reason as to why Sapphire is used in the TouchID system on the iPhone 5.

Impact

Some hard impacts were also imposed on these two surfaces. These include cases where the phone was dropped from a distance. The damages to the Gorilla Glass were less intensive than they were for the Sapphire Glass. Therefore, the Gorilla option still works best when it comes to cases where the iPhone is dropped.

Bending

The four-point bending test was used to determine which glass body can handle pressure. The Gorilla Glass surface was more resilient and did not warp, crack or wear out from all the pressure it dealt with as it was being bent. While the Sapphire Glass can also handle such pressure, its threshold for how much it can bear with was much less than what Gorilla Glass can handle.

In summary, Gorilla Glass is still stronger than Sapphire Glass in terms of how resilient it it and how it can handle impacts. However, Sapphire Glass is a better choice when it comes to finding something that resists scratches. All iPhone enthusiasts should take a look at these points as Apple considers new glass materials for the future.

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Weekly iPhone 6 rumor roundup

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With the iPhone 6 announcement rumored to be just three weeks away, rumors are coming into technology blogs by the dozens. Some of them reaffirm what has already been said, some are brand new. This article will summarize some of the hottest rumors from this last week.

iPhone 6 Hits Production Snag

Perhaps the biggest rumor of the last week came Friday when Reuters posted that iPhone 6 production had come to a standstill back in July because of a last minute problem with the screen. That problem, according to the report, forced Apple to tweak the screen before production could continue.

This delay back a month or so ago, has led to speculation that the September 9th announcement, rumored a couple weeks ago, might need to be pushed back by Apple in order to ensure enough stock on hand before the official launch.

iPhone 6 Will Run On All Chinese Carriers

One of the things Apple does best is eliminate SKUs. They want a single product that can be sold in as many countries as possible. A leak on the Chinese site Weibo, from a China Mobile carrier, suggests that Apple will be releasing just a single iPhone 6 model in China. That model will work on all the different Chinese carriers.

Full Fledged Sapphire Production Won’t Be At Full Throttle Until 2015

This is yet another leak that suggests that Apple is having some problems getting iPhone 6 production up to full speed. Rumors have speculated for months that the iPhone 6 would be Apple’s first smartphone to use the ultra durable glass replacement. Over the course of those same months, there have been countless reports that the production of sapphire wasn’t up to Apple’s initial demand.

This new rumor suggests that current sapphire production still isn’t up to meeting Apple’s demand for it, and that point won’t be reached until the first quarter of 2015.

New Leak Gives Dimensions of Both iPhone 6 Models

Finally, a report out of Foxconn, appears to give the exact dimensions of the next generation iPhone. The leak suggests that the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 will have the dimensions of 138mm long, 66mm wide and 6.9mm thick. The 5.5inch version will be 158mm long, 78mm wide, and 7.1mm thick. 

The weight of the 4.7 inch model wasn’t listed in the leak, however, the 5.5 inch model is reported to weigh around 168.5grams.